Update

Well, it has been entirely too long since I logged on to share our latest happenings.

Cindy started the new job at Prudential as an Accounting Assistant.  She also had an emergency appendectomy, which was awesome (ugh).  Overall, she loves life and is always up for a new adventure!

John got on with the Corrections Department.  He worked all through the Academy and graduated in November.  Then he did his On-Job Training at the Prison and now he is working a full-time schedule there, swing shift.  He loves it and that's been good for all of us.

Andrew is in 1st Grade.  He LOVES it!  He gets bored with the homework he has to do all the time.  It's extremely repetitive and quite a bit below his level as far as academics go, but he does have fun.  He loves to learn and he loves his teacher.  He is learning and growing so fast!

Mason is in Kindergarten and loves every minute of it. He has really grown so much this year and we have seen him really develop in leaps and bounds so far.  He lost two teeth over Thanksgiving break and is currently beating his brother, who has not lost any.  Mason is bound and determined to save all of his baby teeth until the last one falls out and then get his tooth money in one lump sum.  Crazy kid.

More later!

~C

A.F. Adventure

Well, today is Father's Day.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who does his best to keep the kids happy.  He works hard, he plays hard, and he spends almost all of his free time doing whatever I ask or whatever the kids apparently need from him at that moment.  He's a wonderful father and I'm grateful to have him for my husband.

As a celebration today, we went up American Fork Canyon to take a drive and do a little exploring.  It was a beautiful day -- 95* with a light breeze.  The drive was GORGEOUS and the sunshine made an ethereal feeling spread through our family.  It was so nice to just walk and discover.  We got to the summit on the Alpine Loop Road and had to take a picture.  John said to me "Thanks for letting me get high on Father's Day."  haha.  What a goof.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip. Some didn't turn out too well, but I can't complain about the day as a whole.  Hope you like them!

~C

Milestones

It's almost the end of April already!

Over Easter weekend, we were lucky enough to have John's parents out to visit for a couple of days.  Though our visits are always too short with family, we really enjoyed having them out.  We got to celebrate Easter and show them our new home and neighborhood.  We even went to Temple Square on Easter and went out to dinner.  The boys adore their Grammy and Grampy and were so excited to decorate their room and show off all of their tricks.  We have been so grateful for the wonderful relationship we have had with them throughout our marriage. They have been so kind and supportive -- even when it was less than convenient for them.  We're glad our kids have had a chance to build such a strong relationship with their grandparents and I'm so grateful for my close relationship with them.

I wanted to hop on and post a few pictures and a video of the kids today.  Since the sun has been shining so much and the weather is starting to warm up a bit, Andrew and Mason have finally had time to get out and ride their bikes.  They love to get outside and be active, even if I have to force them out initially.  Once they're out there, they hate to come in. :)

Andrew has been riding with training wheels since he was 4 because we never had any level ground to teach him to ride his bike without them.  Things sure have changed now that we're in Utah!  About a week or two after Grammy and Grampy left, we took his training wheels off his bike and he took off up the road without any problems.  John and I ran beside him all the way up, turned him around, and ran all the way down again about a half a dozen times.  I nearly died, but Andrew has gained such confidence knowing that he can ride that bike all by himself.  It only took him one more day to learn how to start and stop himself without help and now he wants to ride ALL the time. :)

Mason is having a hey-day with his bike as well.  He still has training wheels, but I think those will be off by the end of the Summer.  These kids are awesome. :)  For now, he races Andrew all over the place, and sometimes he rides his scooter (though it's not nearly as fast!).

Andrew showing off

A couple of weeks ago John's uncle Gary and his wife, Janet, came to visit us, too!  We've been so lucky to have visitors!  They were kind enough to take us out for dinner at my favorite restaurant (Chili's), and we had a nice visit.  Their stay was even shorter than John and Carolyn's, but we were grateful to have them stop in while they were travelling through on their way back to Seattle.  We love our family!

Here are a few pictures of the family. Enjoy!

~C

 At the Monster Truck Show

 In the Toy Room

 Andrew reading to Mason

 Mason playing You To The Rescue

 Mason with the Horton mask

 Play time at Utah Lake

 Outdoor Fun:  Tether ball!

 Mason on the dirt bike with Daddy

 Andrew on the dirt bike with Daddy

 Some of their favorite time is computer time

 Donut Date at Andrew's school

Mason visiting Andrew's class for Donut Date

Springing

Hi Everyone!

   Well, it's officially April and officially Spring!  Here in Utah that means that it's April and we may still have another snow shower or two before we stay warm continuously.  The last few weeks have brought such warmth and beauty as I've seen the grass getting greener and the trees start to bud and flower.

   Andrew is really enjoying his new school.  He has a wonderful teacher and a great group of classmates, though he rarely actually says anything about them.  He'll have a comment now and then about what they do at recess or how many Beyblades his friends brought to school that day.  That kid would KILL for his own Beyblade, but he'll have to wait until he earns it. ;)  He's learning how to ride his bike, again, and will soon have his training wheels off.  He's getting so independent and I love to see him learning new things and making new discoveries.

    Mason is on the verge of reading. He starts Kindergarten this coming Fall (boo hoo!) and he can hardly wait.  He really wants to be in Andrew's class, but that's not going to happen and he's bummed about it.  It seems like he is growing more and more every day.  He certainly talks more now than he ever did, but he usually has pretty intelligent things to say, which is a nice breath of fresh air from the fluff that I talk about all day.  He really likes learning new things and asks great questions.  He says a lot of funny stuff, too, like "I'm such a bugger for beating you again!"  His love of board games is one of the things I love most about that kid. He always wants to play games, and I welcome that with completely open arms!

  John and I are grateful for our jobs and even more grateful for our extra space.  John has enjoyed having a garage back and a big yard to care for.  He has turned on the irrigation a few times to make sure everything works, mowed the lawn, fertilized, and overall just enjoyed making plans for our yard.  He is less than satisfied with his job, as has been the case for quite some time, and now he's putting in applications for Corrections and Police departments in the area.  We're hoping something good will come from that and we'll keep praying, crossing fingers, etc.

  Well, that's our update for now.   Enjoy the pictures.

-C

Reflections and Testimonies

Today has brought with it an immense amount of gratitude in my heart.  It seems that Sundays have been especially nostalgic lately.

I have been able to attend Relief Society the last couple of weeks, due to my release as the ward's Primary Chorister (the BEST calling in the whole church, I'm certain), and have actually thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  I've been able to sit next to a good friend both weeks and have enjoyed being near her and being able to share of her wonderful spirit.  She is a relatively new convert to the church and I can tell how much she loves the Lord and how much being a member of the Church means to her.  I'm so greatly blessed by friends like this wonderful young woman and am so grateful for her.  I am going to miss my beautiful Chanel (sad face).

Today we were chatting about President Lorenzo Snow and his feelings about Spiritual education.  There were a few tangents that made their entrance into and away from the conversation, but as we chatted and as we were taught, I had a few things come to my mind that I felt I needed to share.

1.  Sometimes a speaker in church just hits you.  In my experience, the most powerful message I have ever heard was given by Jeffrey R. Holland in the 2009 LDS General Conference.  It was so amazing to see him stand there, adamantly expressing that the Book of Mormon and the Gospel are true.  As I watch it, 3 years later, I feel as grateful for his testimony today as I did then.  I sat there in that chapel watching the small t.v. and listened intently to his witness of the Book of Mormon.  My two children (Andrew only 3 and Mason only 8 months old) were completely quiet for this 10-minute moment in time.

Have you ever had that moment?  You know, the one like in the movies when everything in the background goes out of focus and the person in the foreground seems to come more forward?  That moment of focus that lets you know that each thing that is said is meant JUST for that person, and they are 100% aware of the impact that it is going to have on their lives? That's my moment.  All of a sudden, Elder Holland was speaking DIRECTLY to me, challenging me to doubt what he was testifying of, and I couldn't do it.   I remember sitting there, listening to his powerful testimony, and thinking to myself "Of COURSE it's true!  I already know it!"  For the first time in my life, I felt like I didn't have to lean on anyone else's testimony.  I knew it all on my own and it was good enough for me. No doubt.  And I haven't doubted it since.

2.  A few months later, in my ward in Wenatchee, Washington, I had quite an experience that frustrated and exhausted me.  I had been attending church alone for some time (as I always do, since my husband is not a member of the LDS Church), and, while sitting in Sacrament Meeting, my then 1-year-old, Mason, crouched down and peed right out of the side of his diaper... all over the floor in the Chapel.  As if it weren't horrifying enough to try to wipe it up as everyone around me saw the panic in my eyes and the pee all over the floor, my oldest son, Andrew, ran out the other side of the pew and up to the stand and into the empty choir chairs.  Right in the middle of Sacrament Meeting, during our Bishop's wife's talk, Andrew took off running.  I tried to catch him on his way up, and as I did, Mason took off up the other side.  I was mortified!  On my own, trying to catch TWO running children was proving to be impossible.  I was able to grab Andrew and right when I was near tears with all eyes of the congregation on myself and my defiant children, my Home Teacher, Brandon Child, rushed up and grabbed that little Mason and sat him on his arm.  *Face Palm*  Here he was, helping me in such an embarrassing moment for me, and he set that little peed bottom right on his Suit Coat.  I could hardly stand it.  I went home that day nearly consumed in self-pity and tears, trying to muster the courage to call him and thank him for his help, as well as offer to dry clean that suit jacket for him.

I was despondent and beyond frustrated.  As I stood making dinner that night, I got a phone call from my Bishop's wife, Elisabeth.  She called me to encourage me, to tell me how inspiring I am for coming to church all alone and doing the right thing even though it's hard.  She told me that she hoped I wouldn't let the events of that day keep me from attending church in the future and she told me how much she admired what I was doing to instill faith and good Sunday practices in my very young children.  I already knew I wasn't going to leave the church because of an embarrassing 10-minute horror story (as it seemed), but it was so nice to have a call from a wonderful person who took the time to call and lift me up when I was feeling so completely defeated.  Her words stick with me to this day, and even when I feel like it is too much to do on my own, I remember her telling me "that it will all be worth it" as my children learn and grow in the Gospel.  I am truly grateful for her every day.

3.  About a decade ago (ugh) someone challenged my mom to read the Book of Mormon every month for an entire year.  That required a full 18 pages of reading each day in order to make the goal.  Twelve times through the book.  I remember days when she would miss a day of reading and the next day would require 36 pages of reading.  I remember how much she would sit there, determined to get all of those pages read, no matter how tired she was, and still managed to get all of her work done and be an amazing mother to myself and my siblings (though I never appreciated her enough).  Her dedication to reading and to meeting that challenge has affected me in so many different ways.  I remember how she would tell me that each time she read through it, she would get so much more out of it and it would affect her in different ways each month.  It's like she was learning things on a new level with each turn of the page.

As I prepared to take out my endowments and attend the temple for the first time a few years ago, I made a promise to myself that I would read the Book of Mormon all the way through before my temple date.  I made that promise to myself 3 weeks before I left for Utah. I realized that I would have to read a few more than 18 pages a day to get it done, and as I started to really read it... with a real earnest desire to read it and know it was true, I found myself hardly able to put it down.  All of a sudden so much of it made sense in my life.  Maybe it was because I was reading it for myself this time. Maybe it was because I was reading it so quickly.  Regardless of the reason, I found myself enjoying every verse, drinking in every moment and spending all my free time studying and pondering those words.  Even days when I needed a good nap, or needed to go to bed, I wanted to read instead. I have been so grateful for the opportunity to read and re-read the Book of Mormon.

I know that these three examples may not mean much to the average person.  I know that people who read this may look at what I wrote and doubt and question and ignore what I feel and what I say.  But I will testify right here that I KNOW that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the one TRUE church on this earth.  I KNOW that what is taught is true, that this organized religion is IMPERATIVE and that every moment I live, I am affected and changed for the better because of this church.  I am grateful to be able to share with my children and teach them the things that I know.  I am grateful for the Atonement of the Savior and the opportunity that it provides me to right my wrongs and repent of my sins.  I am grateful that I have an Advocate to have mercy on my soul at the last day and the Judgement bar of God.  I am grateful for mercy, for suffering, for challenges, and for the love I feel for and from my Savior.  I am grateful for the many examples and kind people that have been placed in my life to help me grow and help me learn.  I am grateful for a living Prophet, who speaks God's will and prophesies to the world of the things He would have us know.  I am grateful for all my blessings -- whether I recognize them or not -- and hope to be able to deserve the wonderful things in my life.

If you don't know, if you're not sure, and if you're even slightly curious, I would urge you to get your hands on a copy of the Book of Mormon and read it for yourself.  Pray about it, give yourself 10 minutes a day to REALLY ponder, read, pray and search your heart to know if it's true.  And I promise you that if you do, you will see what I see.  You will know what I know.  And you will want to learn more, be part of something bigger, and pattern your life after that of Jesus Christ.  I know that the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints offers this to me and to anyone on this earth who will truly seek the truth.

This is my testimony to you. This is my testimony to my children.  This is my testimony before the Lord Himself.  It is personal, it is powerful, it is everything that I am.

Thank you for taking the time to read as I shared what is most precious to me.

-C